You would like to go back to work and earn a living again. You have elder relatives who may be at risk. Perhaps your business must open again so you can make money and put food on your table. You’d like to go back to normal. You’d love to see your parents again, and your parents would love to see their grandchildren again. You’d like to go on vacation. You’d like to send your kids to camp over the summert. You’d like to feel secure out there again. Or perhaps you’re on the frontlines and don’t feel that your work conditions are safe.

We all want this virus gone, we all need to put food on our tables, we all want to see our friends in person and send our kids back to school and college. Yet, our concerns express themselves in polarizing ways because we see different ways to get there. Some are ok with social distancing, lockdowns, and mouthguards in public in order to help flatten the curve. Others are urgently concerned about their financial situation and the curtailing of their freedom. They are two sides of the same coin.

What’s striking about this virus is that each one of us could unknowingly carry the virus for two weeks, or carry it without ever developing symptoms, and unintentionally infect dozens and even hundreds of others during that time. That makes each one of us a crucial link in the effort to break the spread of the virus. Each one of us on a worldwide basis is all of a sudden important in helping to prevent others from getting sick, to prevent the overwhelming of the healthcare system, the food system, the distribution networks. We have already realized how dependent on foreign supply chains the world is - when too many people in China get sick, economies in many countries slow down. When too many US meat plant workers get sick, Wendy’s runs out of hamburgers and the supermarkets have to ration meat purchases. When the neighbor down the road parties, or heads to a crowded beach, her friends, her parents, the meat plant worker, or the supermarket cashier could get sick.

This pandemic is showing us the way from I to We. No matter how you slice it or dice it, we’re in this together.